(Closed) advice for my senior cat

A year ago, she used to have the cat crazies (you know, jumping and running around the house and her wild side comes out) and then she just randomly stopped. She started sleeping a lot more too, and when I took her to the vet she said everything was fine. This year when I took her to the vet, we found out she’s losing her hearing and eyesight. We also got a kitten the beginning of this year too, and I think he cheered her up a little. She just seemed depressed out of no reason, but like I said the vet last year said nothing was wrong.

Anyhow, she’s been very lazy and sleeps probably 23 hours a day now. She also miraculously gets along with my kitten who’s now 9 months old. They play fight and she gives him lickdowns. Two days ago OUT OF NOWHERE she started playing with her favorite string again. We have no idea what got into her. It seems like she’s just so energetic and happy all of a sudden. It’s adorable though.

Is this normal? Has this happened to your cat? I’m so happy to see her playing and not looking sad and sleepy, so no complaints here. Just wondering is this normal? I should probably just cherish it while I can right?

catpeaches: It’s certainly not unheard of for senior pets to get sudden bursts of their youthful selves. My old dog (who lives with my mom now) is 18 and still trots around like a pup with his tongue hanging out. He’s also blind and hard of hearing but he has his good days and bad days. I would cherish these moments honestly. Just be cautious when she starts to look for places to hide. My step-father’s indoor cat would start sneaking off to places in the house and rarely came out, until she went missing all together. Apparently when a cat senses they are knocking on heavens door they start to seek isolation. That’s at least what we concluded happen to poor Tiffany since no animal shelters picked her up and no one in the nieghbourhood saw her again. Anyways, enjoy all of these moments and take lots of pictures and videos while she’s still here 🙂

I think this is very normal, just like with people animals can have better days than others. I think getting a kitten was great for her! It will help keep her young longer! My guess is that she may have been adjusting to her new hearing and sight loss, and now is back to her old self. I think it is wonderful she is doing so great! My first cat lived to be 21, and was pretty spry almost till the end!

Sounds awesome to me, not sure what you need advice on but I’m happy to hear she took to the kitten kindly and has been more active! I would enjoy it while it lasts!

Our boy is 15, we lost our girl almost a year ago and opted to let him live the rest of his life without any new pets because he doesn’t like change… like, at all.

He surprises us sometimes, randomly acting like a kitten every so often. Playing in the curtains, chasing a ball, running around the house for no reason. Considering he hobbles around most of the time, I love that he still feels well enough to play!

I think sometimes senior pets can go through a bit of a second childhood, and the kitten might be a catalyst for it. We had a mother and daughter pair of cats, one year apart, and they would still go through periods of high playfullness, and then be super sleepy for others. One even surprised us when, after our neighbors went junking and brought a bunch of mice to the property, we found our 15 year old kitty was a natural mouser. She never seemed to want to hunt before, but at 15, she started.

Overall your cat does sound healthy. My cat is 15 and she sleeps a lot too! She has her moments where she acts like a kitten, but really in the past year that has decreased. I read that once a cat hits 15 years they are considered geriatric.

I’m sure the kitten is keeping your older cat company and feeling like a mother.